


Hot in the Factory

by CarolimePie



Series: Past Lives (i have no impulse control) [5]
Category: Lunch Club, Lunch Club (Podcast), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: DO NOT SHIP, Edited, Gilded Age, Historical, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Past Lives
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-24
Updated: 2020-07-24
Packaged: 2021-03-05 03:15:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 732
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25487593
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CarolimePie/pseuds/CarolimePie
Summary: I have orphaned my other lunch club fics, but due to the nature of this series, it is hard to orphan just a select few. Thus so, I have decided to replace Carson with an original story. I'm disappointed but I'll what needs to be done. Please do not try to debate me in the comments about this choice, I will not respond.
Relationships: No Romantic Relationship(s)
Series: Past Lives (i have no impulse control) [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1784758
Comments: 9
Kudos: 47





	Hot in the Factory

**Author's Note:**

> I have orphaned my other lunch club fics, but due to the nature of this series, it is hard to orphan just a select few. Thus so, I have decided to replace Carson with an original story. I'm disappointed but I'll what needs to be done. Please do not try to debate me in the comments about this choice, I will not respond.

The factories are horrible. They’re hot, they’re dirty, they’re not safe.

He spends 10 hours a day, 6 days a week, crammed in with hundreds of other workers in the same position as him.

Trevor hates it. God, he hates it. But he needs the money. His mom needs the money.   
So he stays. He keeps going, even after seeing countless others die mere feet away.

He stays even when the overseer screams until his face turns purple at him. Even when he cuts his finger and has to hope no one notices the blood. Even when the heat is unbearable 

He’s seen it all, to be honest.  
But it never gets easier.

It never gets easier to see the children stone-faced despite their age, grown men bent over their stations in tears.   
And when he looks in his dirty mirror at night, he sees the face of a boy who is on the edge of breaking beyond repair.

Today, it’s so hot in the factory. The windows are closed despite the hot weather. Any requests for them to be opened are met with beatings.

He doesn’t bother to wipe the sweat from his forehead, it comes back just as quickly. 

Is his heart beating faster? It’s hard to tell. 

"Hey!" the overseer barks, slapping his back. "Pick up the pace, runt."   
Trevor nods, forcing down a cough. He’s so hot. He can’t take it any longer. 

He slumps over, his hands grabbing at his neck, hoping to squeeze out any bit of air, but nothing comes out.

He squeezes harder in vain, his vision getting darker and darker until-

_Woah_. 

That’s the craziest dream he’s had in a while. Probably beats the dream about getting high with Nicki Minaj and Elon Musk in a hot tub.

Travis didn’t think much of it. Everyone has weird dreams!

He tells a tired-looking Noah and Cooper about it, again shrugging it off as not much.

Noah looks… interested, like he has a lot of questions he doesn’t want to ask.

Cooper is stone-faced. He doesn’t even seem like he’s in the conversation.

“Do you think it’s like… I don’t know, maybe some kind of past life?” Noah asks, raising an eyebrow.

Travis tilts his head. “That would be _crazy_ if it was… Cooper?”   
Cooper looks up. “Huh?”

“What do you think?”

He scowls. “It’s just a dream. Nothing important.”  
“Maybe not!” Noah shakes his head. “I had a pretty similar one a couple weeks ago, it was-”   
“IT’S JUST A DREAM, DAMMIT!” Cooper yells, standing suddenly and knocking his chair to the ground.   
Noah recoils, hand reaching out for a moment but moving back quickly.

A flash of guilt shows in Cooper’s eyes as he looks around. It’s like he became a different person for a second.   
It’s like that day in the car.

“It’s just a dream,” he repeats quietly before leaving the room.

Travis and Noah exchange a look. 

“You know we have to ask him about this eventually,” Noah says.  
Travis blows out a breath. “I know, dude. I know.”

The rest of breakfast is eaten in heavy silence, interrupted only by Caleb coming down, and the slamming of a door as Cooper leaves without explanation. 

When Travis comes back to his room, he still isn’t worried about his dream. He’s worried about _Cooper_ , and whatever is happening with him.   
He shuts the door behind him, plopping on the bed.

_‘It’s happened before. At least this time we weren’t in the car.’_

It strikes him that the window is also closed. But that’s fine, right? He always has his window closed.

But it feels like his room is getting warmer. Weird. 

_‘What could we even ask him? “Hey Cooper, want to talk about how you almost got into a car accident last week? Love you, bro!” That’s just not a_ normal _conversation people have!’_

Yeah, his room is definitely getting warmer. He’s starting to get a headache in the back of his head.

What is _happening_ today? 

Why does it feel like it’s getting harder to breathe?   
His neck starts to ache, pounding in rhythm with his headache. 

He jumps up, rushing to the window and opening it with shaking fingers. It’s too hot. It’s too crowded. It’s-

What??

His headache is gone. So is the pain in his neck. The room is cool.

Something weird is going on, for sure.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed!


End file.
